Nintendo revealed some figures regarding the first week of sales for Mario Kart DS and let me tell you, the game is a total hit.

Beth Lewellyn, NOA Senior Director of Public Relations said this about the MKDS results:

“We are ecstatic with the results, and this definitely sets the standard for future Wi-Fi online gaming,Mario Kart should easily be a million seller in its life cycle, and we’d love for everyone with the game to touch the Wi-Fi experience. We’ve got Animal Crossing just around the corner, and Metroid Prime Hunters next year, with more to come.”

According to Nintendo the game has sold over 112,000 copies and 45% of the buyers have at least tried the wi fi connection. Great numbers for a first week, with the european release this week the numbers will go even higher.

Whoa! Mario Kart DS has been getting fantastic reviews and ratings at every single gaming magazine and website around the globe. Here´s a small roundup of some of them.

Gamespot 9.2 / 10
Famerz Edge 9.6 / 10
IGN 9.5 / 10
Gamepro 4.5 / 5
1up 9 / 10

Did you get your copy already? This is the game of the holyday season for sure.

Launch day for Mario Kart DS is getting closer and the full character list has been finally revealed. Koopa Troopa is back wich is great since i used to play with him a lot. I hope he doesn´t suck.

• Mario
• Luigi
• Peach
• Donkey Kong
• Bowser
• Wario
• Toad
• Yoshi
• Shy Guy
• Daisy
• Waluigi
• Dry Bones
• Koopa Troopa
• Toadette
• Petey Piranha
• R.O.B.

Finally, after a few weeks of a teaser site with no real info the official Mario Kart DS website has launched.

The site features 6 main sections where you can take a look at some items, characters and courses info, the official artwork and some extra stuff. It also includes a pretty cool downloads section where you can find wallpapers, buddy icons and a screensaver for both, windows and mac computers.

Link | Official site

A couple of Mario Kart DS news have popped out today, here we go.

First, Daisy has been confirmed as one of the eight hidden playable characters of the game, this was confirmed thanks to an image from a brochure where you can see her at the positions list on a race. Check out the image here.

Text chat has also been confirmed for the game. You will be able to write messages to your friends altought it is unkown how the chat system will work we do know that you will only be able to talk to people you give your MAC code to. This is specially done to protect younger MKDS players from being approached via chat by strangers.

Bad news for our friends at Europe, according to BGW, you guys won´t be able to get your hands on the Mario Kart DS and Red DS bundle pack, instead you are getting a regular silver console and no extra stuff.

Just remember that the DS is region-free so you can still import a bundle pack and play all your games without problem. I don´t know why Nintendo does this kind of stuff, i mean, a lot of people were waiting for Mario Kart to buy their DS and putting it all into a bundle pack is a great move.

Here´s the full Mario Kart DS track list. It´s great to see some of the old tracks back. The retro mode - lighting cup sounds fun

Retro Mode

Shell Cup
Mario Circuit 1 - Super Nintendo
Moo Moo Farm - N64
Peach Circuit - Game Boy Advance
Luigi Circuit - GameCube

Banana Cup
Donut Plains 1 - Super Nintendo
Frappe Snowland - N64
Bowser Castle 2 - Game Boy Advance
Baby Park - GameCube

Leaf Cup
Koopa Beach 2 - Super Nintendo
Choco Mountain - N64
Luigi Circuit - Game Boy Advance
Mushroom Bridge - GameCube

Lightning Cup
Choco Island 2 - Super Nintendo
Banshee Boardwalk - N64
Sky Garden - Game Boy Advance
Yoshi Circuit - GameCube

Nitro Mode

Mushroom Cup
Figure-8 Circuit
Yoshi Falls
Cheep Cheep Beach
Luigi’s Mansion

Flower Cup
Desert Hills
Delfino Square
Waluigi Pinball
Shroom Ridge

Star Cup
DK Pass
Tick-Tock Clock
Mario Circuit
Airship Fortress

Special Cup
Wario Stadium
Peach Gardens
Bowser Castle
Rainbow Road

On a side note, it has been confirmed that there´ll be 8 unlockable characters. Waluigi and Dry Bones will be 2 of them,.

Via | British Gaming

This is the official box of the Mario Kart bundle. As anticipated, the pack will include a “Hot decal set” (featured on the second picture) and a special edition wristband.

The bundle will be hitting the stores on November 14th for $149.99, there are some rumors that the game could be delayed a couple weeks. We´ll keep you informed.

Looks like Nintendo is bringing the whole DS color set to America in bundles for the holiday season. Some time ago we were talking about the Teal Ds with Nintendogs bundle pack, now, Nintendo will be releasing the Red Nintendo DS bundled with Mario Kart.

I think this is a great deal for those who haven´t gotten their DS yet because they were waiting for games like Mario Kart to be launched, apparently the bundle will have an inicial price tag of $149.99 and will be launched on November 14th.

It is unknown if the Red DS is going to be sold exclusively with this bundle like the Teal and White versions.